Flipper Them Off

State officials given OK to kill sea lions to protect salmon

Posted at 2:22 PM on 18 Mar 2008

Oregon and Washington state officials will have the authority to trap and, if necessary, kill up to 85 of the sea lions that gobble up threatened salmon at the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced Tuesday. Sea lions, which enjoy a robust population but are nonetheless protected under the 1972 Marine Mammals Protection Act, have been visiting the dam to feast on salmon for years. State officials first must try to trap the animals and see whether an aquarium, zoo, or marine park will take them; if no facilities are available, or if the animals avoid entrapment, the sea lions can be killed. Critics of the plan say that not enough attention has been paid to the threats posed to salmon by fisherfolk, habitat loss, birds, water pollution, and dams.

sources: Associated Press, The Oregonian
see also, in Grist: Salmon fishing season in California and Oregon may be canceled

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Comments: (8 comments)

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Overfishing

Not satisfied with taking too many salmon we must now kill the animals that depend upon them for food.

If another animal is feeding on fish that have been overfished by man, this should automatically qualify them for protection from culling.

To kill an animal because we have depleted their food source is immoral.

by Blueplanet at 8:27 AM on 19 Mar 2008

WE threaten the salmon,

not the sea lions.

Blueplanet,
your statement is perfect. Thanks very much!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 9:09 AM on 19 Mar 2008

KILL. KILL. KILL

KILL. KILL. KILL - seems to be the only solution "we advanced and more intelligent animals" can ever come up with!

Really, humans have so many choices for food, - especailly in the USA. and yet we kill sealions and other animals "so we can eat salmon"!

Really, people that set forth these laws, sicken me! I hope they endure the same fate!

by javaearth at 10:18 AM on 19 Mar 2008

Salmon Not Just Food

Salmon are a necessary part of their ecosystems and are far more valuable than just food for humans. The problem is this: humans have done severe damage to salmon habitat by pumping water from rivers & streams, destroying riparian habitat with logging and cattle/sheep grazing, polluting water, and emitting massive amounts of CO2, which both warm waters beyond what salmon can tolerate and acidify oceans, which makes it harder to survive for all vertebrates, including salmon.

In addition to these harms, human-made dam(n)s create artificially easy fishing areas for sea lions, who take advantage of the situation by eating salmon that congregate at the dam(n)s.

So, people have offered, as a short term solution that will do nothing to actually solve the problem, that sea lions be killed because they're eating salmon at the dam(n)s. While this solution might make some sense if one only looks at the situation myopically, it makes no sense without addressing the root causes of the problem, and without which I could never support this proposed "solution."

Re overfishing, the only boats that overfish are the big industrial ships. While processed salmon may be caught by these ships (I have no idea), small 30-40 foot fishing boats catching salmon with lines and hooks do not overfish, so long as they don't employ longlines, which none do to my knowledge. Alaska has a totally sustainable salmon industry and they catch tons of salmon every year, literally.

by Wolverine at 12:40 PM on 19 Mar 2008

And, Of Course, Dam(n)s

And it goes without saying that dam(n)s make it hard or impossible for salmon to get upstream to breed.

by Wolverine at 12:43 PM on 19 Mar 2008

salmon slurping

Don't much care for sea lions' habit(which would make him a great human being), of taking one chomp out of a salmon, then going on to another salmon...to take one chomp...then on to another salmon...to take one chomp. Even I, as a human being, clean my plate.

Your future is not determined by your past

by litesong at 7:00 PM on 20 Mar 2008

Get the right photo Grist!! Sheesh . . .

You could at least post a photo of a California sea lion for the story instead of a northern fur seal (after all wouldn't people want to know what EXACT species is due to be culled?). The more I know about a story, the more I realize that many journalists often get things wrong . . .

Jason Griffith

by jasongriffith at 2:02 PM on 25 Mar 2008
[ Parent ]

Good catch, Jason.

But this is very subtle. I do not know the Otariidae at all well in detail, but I assume the spots on the female's neck are diagnostic, as well as the prominent front and relatively short, pointed snout. So, what was it about that photo that screams out to you, "These are northern fur seals!"?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 2:19 PM on 25 Mar 2008

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